Halo: Second Contact
by Scorp4
Summary: The Citadel never met the Systems Alliance, so when the reapers arrive, the results are much more destructive. Project EXODUS is initiated as a fail-safe if the Reapers defeat the Citadel. How will this change the Galaxy? Who will rise up to the challenge? Will you still read this story even though its summary is bad? First time fanfic, so reviews are much appreciated.
1. Timeline

**Halo Timeline**

The war was finally over. Twenty-eight years after first contact at Harvest, only a few days after the Arc. Admiral Hood stood on a hill knowing that the galaxy's eyes, human and alien, were on him. It was time.

"For us, the storm has passed ... the war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure; sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight... our fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us , and they shall not be forgotten."

Seven marines then shot 3 volleys in perfect unison, the type that only years of dedication and training could achieve

Hood turned towards the Arbiter, telling him, "I remember how this war started. What your kind did to mine. I can't forgive you. But…" The admiral held out his hand to the Arbiter, a gesture of peace and respect, "you have my thanks, for standing by him to the end." The Arbiter shook Hood's hand.

The _Shadow of Intent_ drifted lazily high about them. It was the end of the nightmare and the start of a new era. A golden age had begun.

{====================}

 _2553 March_

 _The Human-Covenant War ends. It is now popularly known as the Great War. Covenant Loyalist start hit-and-run tactics against the Covenant Separatist and UNSC. With the human species crippled and the Separatist unstable, casualties rise._

 _2553 April_

 _Species belonging to the old Covenant are freed from their rigid caste structure. The_ UNSC Infinity _is completed._

 _The Unggoy return to their homeworld, Balaho, and reclaim lost culture and arts. Demand for Unggoy pottery and art soar. Most Unggoy resign from the military, but some stay. Efforts are made to increase survivability of Grunts in times of war._

 _The Kig-Yar are split into two separate parts: Loyalist and Separatist. Most join the Loyalist group. Some Kig-Yar return to their old pirating habits while others become merchants._

 _The Mgalekgolo, with virtually nothing to do, stay with the Elites and proceed as they had before, guarding high value Sangheili._

 _The Yanme'e return to their world and isolate themselves from the rest of the galaxy. Nothing is heard from them for nearly a century._

 _The Jiralhanae replace elites in the Loyalist faction and thrive. Hatred between Elites and Brutes skyrocket._

 _And arguably the most change occurred with the Elites. Without any leaders, which had been the Prophet's job for millennia, chaos ensues shortly before Arbiter assumes control. Sangheili everywhere are shocked to learn that not only had the San 'Shyuum betrayed them, but that had been killing tens of billions of innocent sentients. Many Elites are horrified and some devote the rest of their lives helping the humans. With their life turned upside down, the Elites relentlessly go after the Covenant Loyalist._

 _2553 December_

 _Mankind, having survived the genocide caused by the Covenant, now are split between supporting the Separatist or taking their revenge. Whole colonies are now divided on what course of action should be taken. Xenophobe protests first start off peaceful, however, suddenly become violent. This is the start of the Second Insurrection_

 _2554 February_

 _Without the leadership of the Prophets to supply everything from food to shipbuilding, infrastructure on Sangheili worlds start to slowly crumble. Fortunately, with the Arbiter's control, they create short term solutions to these problems until long term ones can begin._

 _2557 January_

 _ONI's secret projects, including some details from the SPARTAN 2 and 3 program, are leaked. People everywhere are stunned at the lack of morals in their decisions. Along with that, the Loyalist raid colonies weekly and Insurrectionist terrorizing cities daily, UNSC morale drops._

 _2557 June_

 _ONI is almost dismantled and thrown into the atomic recycler. Major changes are made to limit their control. And because ONI is being ONI, loopholes are found to traverse some of these changes._

 _2558 May_

 _Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 is found and retrieved from the artificial Forerunner planet Requiem. Morale hits Sonic's jump pad. Everyone is relatively happy, even Insurrectionist terrorism declines, whether in fear or joy, it is unknown. The frequency of Covenant Loyalist raids have been lowered significantly, most likely in fear._

 _2560 August_

 _Although tensions between Covenant Separatist, now named the Alliance of Species, and the UNSC are prevalent, most of which are in the outer colonies, the Arbiter requests help. The situation is dire in Coalition space. Even though the Covenant Loyalist have been crushed, infrastructure on numerous Alliance worlds have fallen into disarray. The Elites have relied on the San 'Shyuum for millennia and were not used to independence. Poverty strikes, famines start, and Kig-Yar Pirates run around pillaging faster than the deteriorating Alliance fleets can handle._

 _2560 November_

 _After 3 months of work, basic utilities are back online and security is ensured on Alliance core worlds thanks to the joint fleets of UNSC and Alliance guarding planets. Terraforming of glassed planets begin._

 _2562 March_

 _Two years have past after work had started on reviving the Alliance economy. Thanks to human aid and the Huragok's skills, Old Covenant technology is understood and repairs can be made to the damaged hulls of Alliance ships. Farming, engineering, researching, and many other jobs are brought back to life on Sangheili worlds although many Alliance worlds are still I need of help. Covenant Loyalist have been pushed to the edge of defeat._

 _2565 November_

 _Information is leaked once again. This time, it isn't about ONI. Humans are discovered to be children of the Forerunners. When combined with the aid given to the Sangheili, even the most anti-human Elite feels guilt over the Great War. The ideology of the Mantle of Responsibility becomes a major part of human culture. This results in support for the Second Insurrection to disintegrate. Afterwards, the Insurrection dies out after only a few months._

 _2566 January_

 _Hundred, if not thousands, of civilians ships enter slipspace traveling to an unknown location. These ships are thought to contain the last of the supporters of the Second Insurrection. This event is forgotten after a decade of nobody caring._

 _2570 December_

 _The Alliance can now survive with limited humanitarian aid. The UEG economy booms due to the jobs created educating and helping the Sangheili and the other Alliance races. Due to the exchange in technology, human slipspace drives have been improved. Speeds of 3 light years a day are replaced by speeds up to 900 light years a day, an feat unimaginable 20 years earlier. AIs, particularly Smart AIs, are much cheaper and come in a variety of species. Past tensions have now been almost erased; species everywhere, except for the Brutes, which have been reduced to fighting tribes, welcome one another. However, the Loyalist faction still remains and conduct hit and run raids on the outer-est colonies of the UEG and Alliance_

 _2575 September_

 _A golden age has arrived. The UNSC and Alliance of Species have started working together, an act supported by many. New Forerunner bases are discovered and advances in technology begin._

 _Slipspace drives now move a ship at 1.5 thousand light years a day...at a minimum_

 _Aging is now significantly slowed by research in "telomeres", parts in DNA that control age. As cells divide, telomeres gradually get shorter. When they reach a certain point, the cell stops dividing, causing aging. New technology can slow down the process of the telomeres wearing out. Average lifespan is doubled everywhere._

 _Shielding becomes widespread, from the smallest Unggoy to the largest warship. Ballistic weapons are also improved. Using modified Jiralhanae techniques, Humanity's projectile ammunition is now super-heated, melting armor in addition to creating burning shrapnel. Energy weapons shoot faster projectiles, increasing effective range._

 _2576 January_

 _In response to the fighter squadron attacks on ODP Super MACs during the Great War, the PDP is born. The Point Defense Platform can defend Super MACs and planets alike from large fighters to small frigates. Super MACs have also been upgraded into P-MACs, Plasma Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. These shoot smaller 1000 ton ferric-tungsten rounds surrounding a 3000 degree celsius plasma ball traveling at 15000 kilometers a second, about 5% of the speed of light. Test results have shown that while stopping power has been slightly diminished, effective range has been increased thanks to faster bullets._

 _Experiments on Forerunner "Hardlight" has begun._

 _2580 April_

 _Terraforming of most glassed planets, including Reach, have been complete. Even more colonies are settled. Security, population, and economy of all species have reached, and sometimes exceeded, pre-war levels. Over 2 thousand colonies have been created, almost half of them are joint species._

 _To prevent the fatal mistake of undefended worlds during the Great War, colonies are first outfitted with defenses, for example, P-MACs and PDPs, before colonist arrive._

 _2584 December_

 _On Christmas day, while in the midst of a slipspace jump, a partier activates emergency brakes and the civilian ship_ Angry Squirrel _tumbles out of slipspace. Heavily damaged by the sudden stop, their slipspace drive no longer works. Fortunately, a Unggoy's Huragok-companion had the knowledge to fix the slipspace drive._

 _During their exploration for resources, they encounter a massive purple fork-like structure and a garden world. Eager to have proper repairs and share to the news of a Forerunner construct, they hurry back to the nearest colony._

 _2585 February_

 _22 frigates, 8 cruisers, and a dreadnought along with 12 research vessels arrives at the newly discovered Naboo System. The "purple fork" is studied. The garden word, Naboo, is the planet of a star that experienced higher-than-normal radiation levels in the relatively recent past. All life there has virtually no immune system due to radiation killing most harmfull bacteria and viruses._

 _2585 August_

 _Both the UEG and the Alliance decide that no colonization will take place on Naboo because any introduction of new species will decimate the relatively weak ecology. The Purple Fork is determined to not be of Forerunner origin...it is younger._

 _In an effort to represent the unity and technological ingenuity of both major factions, Project Mini-Halo is started._

 _Faced with a possibly hostile new species, warship production, including Infinity class ships, has increased. Research and funds are poured into making the new Cole-Class warship, an equivalent to the Long Night of Solace._

 _2586 March_

 _The Purple Fork is accidentally activated when a frustrated scientist curses at the device via radio. Scientist have discovered that these structures are a form of FTL. Although much faster than slipspace, they can only be used in a relay-like fashion. Relay connected worlds instantly become wealthy due to ease of trade. Less than a dozen are discovered in the Orion Arm of space in all history._

 _2591 May_

 _Halo Installation 02 is discovered through the use of the newly discovered Janus Key. Researchers try to contact the Monitor, but fail._

 _2591 June_

 _An exploration party is sent to the surface in an effort to obtain Forerunner technology. The party is slaughtered by the Flood, which have escaped their prison and killed all guard sentinels. They almost gain access to a research vessel, which contained FTL technology, by using a captured pelican. After glassing the installation, a more heavily armed team venture out to obtain Forerunner tech._

 _2591 September_

 _The Hood Protocol is created. This protocol calls for immediate annihilation of all Flood organisms by any means necessary._

 _2593 November_

 _An unmanned, exploration probe enters the system of_ HD 209458 b _. One of the orbiting planets is filled with life. What is interesting is that the probe has detected some artificial constructs on the planet's only moon. Not wanting to mess up first contact like last time, Intelligence agencies start collecting information about these species by monitoring digital communications_

 _2593 December_

 _A diplomatic group has entered the system which, according to hacked information, is named Kashyyyk and is home to the sentient, early-space age Wookies. The Wookies have started to colonize their solar system, but have not expanded beyond that. First contact is established and a basic text translator is created from Huragok playing with Wookie technology._

 _2597 October_

 _Unusual gravity anomalies are detected across multiple relays. No one knows what or how it has happened, but the phenomenon is soon forgotten._

 _2603 March_

 _It is the 50th anniversary of the Great War's end and the 10th anniversary of first contact with Wookies. The Wookies have decided to finally join the intergalactic community in the masses. Wookies are welcomed with open arms and quickly become ship engineers due to their natural talent. Although Wookies cannot compare to Huragok in terms of engineering, they are much more widespread. A movement has started to unify all alien species into one collective government._

 _The 1st Cole-Class ship, the_ Guardian's Pillar _, in unveiled to the public. It spans 27 kilometers and remains the pride of the UNSC for years to come._

 _2634 January_

 _Research and development teams have created the first hard light cannon. The weapons overheated constantly, is very expensive, and is quite large. But still, it is a proof that hard light technology is a viable option._

 _2617 July_

 _The UEG, Alliance, and Wookies have agreed to unify under the banner of the United Species Space Coalition._

 _2654 January_

 _The USSC has discovered 2 other sentient species coexisting peacefully on what seems to be a colony, not a homeworld. Contact is established with the Mon Calamari and the Quarren. Over the next few decades, technology and culture is exchanged._

 _The Mon Calamari and Quarren decide to exist independent from the USSC, however, they wish to continue trading and sharing cultures. Study of their unique shielding system begins._

 _2662 October_

 _(Present Day)_

 _Project Mini-Halo is complete. Though a only 1,000 kilometers in diameter, a tenth of the original Halo, the structure is declared as a massive step forward into becoming equals to the Forerunners._

{====================}

 _Whew, this project was taking a toll on me_ , she thought. The Sangheili looked at the human digital clock. Considered the new generation, these Sangheili were going to be the one of the first engineers and scientist of Sanghelios. No longer were the Sangheili's only job was war. Now, they were renowned as ingenious scientist and engineers.

 _Ahh, it is a great honor to be the first of my kind to learn at this place, and a female no less_ , her mind wandering, _though I must say, this great honor comes at a price_. She double checked the clock just to make sure it was only 2:00 AM. By her standards, that was early. _A walk through to campus will invigorate my mind for this assignment_. _Yes, it will also clear my mind for the upcoming "essay"._

As the female Sangheili exited the building, the vegetation-covered words "Harvard" could be seen.

{====================}

 _Hundreds of thousands of years ago_

 _The Ark and its monitors were floating through space, replenishing the galaxy of life. It had been decades since the Halo fired, wiping out everything._ Unacceptable, _343 Guilty Spark, the temporary monitor of the Ark thought,_ this primitive technology will hinder the Reclaimer's progress.

Protocol dictates that Reclaimers must inherit the Mantle, _he thought,_ this will hamper their development significantly if discovered. Simple radical reconstruction will not suffice - excess energy leakage will destroy the system. We must manually break them apart to guarantee the Reclaimers do not base their technology on this.

 _The Ark's Monitor relayed commands to the sentinals. It would take around a century to find and dismantle_ _ **(AN: That pun)**_ _all the ancient structures in the Orion arm of the galaxy. His maker never cared about these artifacts as Forerunners FTL was much more versatile, but if the Reclaimers based their technology on this, they would never reach slipspace, therefore..._

 _Thousands of kilometers away, the relay systems of the Orion Arm of the galaxy could be seen slowly, but surely, be disassembled._


	2. Incident 343

Hi guys, scorp is back with another update. I'm really glad I got this off this fast, but for any of my viewers, don't expect every day updates. Expect a once week sort of deal until the end of summer. As usual, I do not own any of these franchises, which include Halo, Mass Effect, Star Wars, etc.

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Somewhere, in the emptiness of space, a lone ship shot across the darkness. Racing behind it was a insectoid monst. The pilot spammed every button, red-lined every reactor, and forced every thruster past its peak. Fires and electrical sparks flew everywhere. The pilot knew that none of those nuisances would matter if he didn't escape, but he could only stall for so long. A ball of energy slammed into the ship and then...all hell broke loose and the pilot saw no more.

 **6 Years Before**

"Sir-uhh, mam, we're exiting FTL in a few minutes"

"Good, lets hope this is the right place", Saar Caora replied.

An exploration fleet had arrived at this location. Command didn't give details, but they told her that this was important. Well, exploration fleet was an understatement. Apparently, the Council wanted this to be secret so they sent one ship, the _Havuu._

They had stumbled upon this system using an unmanned exploration probe using traditional FTL instead of mass relays. Eezo was getting rarer these days and no one wanted to start another Rachni war opening a relay, so this was the next best option.

"Exiting FTL right about...now." Mere moments after Len, the pilot, spoke, streaks of stars slowed down and objects became visible. The normally smooth transition into normal speed was extraordinarily bumpy, like they landed in an asteroid field. Immediately, everyone on the bridge looked out of the windows to find to culprit.

Saar, closer to the windows than most, was surprised. Bewildered even. The husks of dozens of ships were floating in a tightly spaced clumped mass. It didn't take long to notice that there were two distinct types of wreckages intermingled into the graveyard. About a third had purple hulls and bulbous, organic-like structures. The rest were dull gray. 1 kilometer boxes of gray alloy with weapons strapped to every space, these were utilitarian to say the least. What was more amazing was that these gray ships had what seemed to be built around giant mass accelerator cannons. If size alone indicated they power of the cannons, then these would be extraordinarily powerful.

Everyone stood in stunned silence. It was Saar who filled the silence. "Get us closer to the gray ships. We'll see what information we can recover from scans."

As they approached the largest gray ship, which was 1.5 kilometers long, the letters U.N.S could be seen. They were written in another language. But most of all, what chilled them to the bone was the planet nearest to the dead ship. It was burnt to the ground, like the crust was flipped inside out. "How old has this wreckage been here?"

A scientist stated, "Based on the radiation being emitted, this ship has been here for about 70 year."

Silence. Only 70 years; very recent in a geological timescale. Although the ship looked like a child put boxes on one another and added engines, it looked like it take a beating and still steamroll enemies. Everyone knew that whatever destroyed the ship must have been immensely strong.

An ensign broke the barrier of silence. "The hull seems to be a strong, yet flexible titanium based alloy. It seems to rival Silaris armor coatings."

No, that couldn't be possible. This massive ship, all the gray boxed shaped ships, used armor equivalent to the galaxy's best armor. And they had meters of it no less. _Those must cost millions, if a billions, of credits to make._

Suddenly, the ensign's face went from surprise to shock, his mouth opened, and closed, speechless. "What is it?!" Saar demanded

"The-there's not any eezo.." he stuttered.

Saar thought of what to do. Eventually, it was time to inform the crew of her plan. "We must obtain that technology. With the threat of whatever destroyed these ships, we need to be ready. There is no FTL with no eezo, therefore this is their homeworld. A very, very dead homeworld. Isix, Neeri, and security team 6, come with me, we're going to board this ship"

Saar mind raced. With two scientist, Isix and Neeri, they would be able to get information out of the alien database for later translation. She couldn't risk sending any more scientist lest there were hostiles in there. Even with their best security team, anything could be inside, waiting.

"Get life support gear and mag-boots. We can't take any chances, most likely, all chambers will be depressurized. Get our best weapons. If they are anything like Krogans, I don't want to be surprised."

Thirty minutes later, the 10 person security force joined up with the 3 scientist. As Saar's team walked towards the Drop Shuttle, she could hear to the scientist excitedly whispering to each other.

"...Did you see that writing on the hull…"

"...I wonder if this is a new race…"

"...Maybe they're a long lost colony or…"

"...No, that can't be, that ship is higher tech than ours…"

"...are primitive. No eezo was detected…"

"...Then how are ...ships so big…"

"...Yeah, and initial scan revealed that…"

"...Do you think that armor has tungsten in it? That might explain how initial test show their high heat resistance…"

Uhh, she would never understand. Her job was to follow orders and protect the Council and all its species, not drone continuously about tungsten and how amazing it was. This continued on until they reached the shuttle and even when they flew through a massive hole breach.

"It's time. I don't want to hear you gossiping about how these aliens are midget sized krogans. If you talk, it better be for a good reason. Otherwise, I'm sending you back to the ship."

Isix and Neeri shut up fast, none wanting to waste this valuable opportunity. As expected, there was no atmosphere or artificial gravity. _Of course there wouldn't_ , Saar thought, _they haven't even discovered element zero, why would they have artificial gravity?_

As they floated through one of the passageways, Saar began to notice scorch marks on the walls. It was like someone, or something, tried to take over the ship, but the only species that used heated weapons, like plasma, were the Geth. Her body involuntarily shuddered at the thought of the Geth moving outside of the Perseus Veil.

The Team floated around the dark hallways aimlessly with their helmet lights on, mapping the interior, sometimes finding a breached door. Saar's tactical mind began to notice something...interesting, to say the least. Every hallways, every intersection, even every "decoration" had one purpose. To defend against boarding parties. Choke points, kill boxes, you name it; this ship had them all in its hallways.

This species must have been very, very desperate to have designed a ship this way. Either that or their culture put little emphasis on anesthetic. Then again, who in their right mind would build a ship with structural designs with the specific task to repel boarders in a time of peace?

After one hour, they came across a closed door. Red and blue stains covered the walls leading up to this door. Scorch marks were present. Whatever lay behind this door must have been important.

"That looks like a control panel," Saar noticed, "Can you open the door with it?"

Isix replied, "I can try, but I'm not the best at hacking devices"

"Do it"

After what seemed to be days Isix cursed, "I can't open it. Whatever is defending this door from my cyber attacks is vastly superior to anything we know of. Whatever defense system they have in there actively changes the encryption key and counterattacks my attacks. Already, my Omni-Tool is barely functional."

"Does anyone else know how to open this up?" Saar asked.

"Why the hell didn't you ask earlier, I have some explosives with me right now," replied a security officer.

Another guard snickered, "She isn't talking about your cruddin' fart you so-"

Saar sighed on the inside, why were military men always like this? "Cut the chatter. You, place a breaching charge on the door, but try not to destroy anything behind it".

Minutes later, an explosion appeared on the door. Fire erupted and sound waves expanded, only to be consumed by the nothingness of space. By the time all the particles had settled, the door had been obliterated and they were ready to enter.

The guards stepped through first and as Saar began to look at the room. The room resembled an oval made of lines with large, thick windows on the far side's wall. She heard him whisper, "What the...".

Wondering why, she began to look. While focused on the back room, she didn't notice all the blood and weapon damage. Bullet dents lines every wall and scorch marks were burned onto almost every surface.

When Isix and Neeri entered, as they had never seen war, they began to look sick. Neeri looked like she almost threw up in her biosuit, which would result in her drowning.

Through unspoken agreement, the team began working. Most of the security team began establishing a defensive perimeter while Saar looked over the equipment, cataloging small devices and even a small projectile weapon. Hmm, she thought, no element zero. How primitive.

The scientist back on the ship would have a field day with these objects. Isix and Neeri, however, were more interested in the computers. As Salarians, they had an affinity with such objects, so naturally, this was heaven to them.

"Hmm," Neeri mumbled, "My omni-tool won't interface correctly with these devices."

"Mine's dead, so it looks like we're going to have to do it manually." Isix replied.

"How do we do that?"

"Just press buttons." Isix began to stab keys, hoping to get something. Seeing this, Neeri began to do the same.

Saar began to stop them, "I don't think we should do that, what if you do som-"

A deep rumble was heard across the ship. The floor started shaking. It was like a monster had awaken.

"What the shit did you just do!" the security team captain yelled.

No one replied. No one could. They were all too captivated by the events surrounding them. A low pitched drone gradually went higher in pitch until an artificial voice sounded in the middle of the room.

A mechanical voice was heard saying, "Emergency lights online. Backup generator online and working at 17 percent. Activating artificial gravity. Repressurization initiating. Unknown intruders detected. Bio-signatures unknown."

Gravity returned. Saar head forcefully kissed the floor with a thump along with most of the crew and a few doors could be heard closing. Shortly after, a faint hissing noise was heard.

Saar said, "According to my scanners, this atmosphere is breathable, but how is th-"

The mechanical voice returned. "Sending self destruct messages to all UNSC ships. Fleet-wide reactor overloads commencing, T-minus 10 minutes remaining."

None of the crew could understand any of the words, but as soon as the sirens began to scream, they knew something catastrophic happening. The ship's smart AI didn't know who exactly was on this ship, as all the visual sensors were destroyed, so he assumed it was covies, and frankly, he didn't care. He felt nice knowing he'd go down in a blaze of glory.

A guard ran to his radio, "This ships is gonna blow or something, get us the hell out of here!"

The crew aboard the _Havuu_ vessel replied, "I'm sending a transport; meet it at the main hanger. I'll get it there as soon as possible, _Havuu_ out."

The team ran as fast as they possibly could to what seemed to be the main hangar, but in the confusion, forgot most of the samples they collected. With artificial gravity turned on, they could move much faster. _I wonder how they did this without element zero? Gah, now's not the time to think about that._ Saar glanced at her omnitool to look at the map they created with wandering the hallways. Small sparks and fires littered the hallways

Seven and a half minutes later, Saar and the rest of the crew were fleeing as fast as they could. Behind them, they saw multiple explosive spheres expanding outwards from all the gray box-like ships engulfing all the debris, including the purple ships besides them.

Saar, having been surprised too many times to count in a span of mere hours, looked on with a spaced out expression. All that new technology, ships that didn't use element zero and giant wormhole makers, lost. The only evidence left were small scrap of material, none bigger than a Krogan's brain.

She knew she would be punished. Only time world tell how severely. On the month long trip back to the nearest mass relay system, she would have to hope for the best.

{====================}

 **Title:** Incident 343

 **Security:** Top Secret - Code Black

 **Subject:** Artificial Space Debris Discovered

 **Details:** An expedition ship, the _Havuu_ , was led by Asari Saar ordered by the Citadel Council to explore Prothean ruins. The ruins, however, were not Prothean, but something else. There were two distinct ship types. Upon questioning, Saar claims that one was organic and purple was the other was gray and box-like in shape, confirming external video recordings. Later STG expeditions showed that the nearby garden planet had been burned; details will to discussed shortly. Virtually no data was gained besides basic scans made from the _Havuu_. These scans will be examined in a later date.

 **Nearby Planet:** The nearby garden world had been bombarded from orbit. The surface was covered in lechatelierite, a glass-like substance. In addition, massive amounts of heat emanated from the ground, creating miniature volcanoes that dots the landscape. And finally, the oceans have been reduced to ash-filled puddles and most of the atmosphere has been burned away. It is more than safe to assume that all previous life has been destroyed.

 **Threat Level-** High

 **Special Notes:** This planet may  not be a homeworld. Resources on the planet are not sufficient for the production of Group Alpha ships (see below).

 **Gray Ships (Group Alpha):** These ships are protected by a titanium based alloy that is super-resistant to heat. Initially scans state it rivals Salaris Armor. The ship is utilitarian, no decoration at all. The boarding party leader, Saar, tells us that even though no element zero was detected, artificial gravity was activated at some point. We have no clue on to how this is possible. No kinetic barriers were detected along with no element zero.

 **Threat Level-** Low to Moderate

 **Special Notes:** The ships have massive mass accelerator cannons, but lack kinetic barriers. If spotted, allied ships are advised to take evasive action against the massive cannons while returning fire at the group alpha ships. The lack of shielding will make their destruction exponentially easier.

 **Purple Ships (Group Beta):** Not much is known about this faction as they were destroyed before all scans could be complete. What is known is that these ships were superior to Group Alpha ships and were most likely the attackers. 66% off the hull material is unknown to us. Likewise, no element zero was detected

 **Threat Level-** Unknown; estimated at Moderate

 **Suggestions to Counter Threat:** Increase cover exploration in nearby systems in an effort to locate more ruins for further research and testing. Avoid contact if found. Two species are most likely at war and although we are technologically superior, we are not ready for a long war. More information is needed for further action. Recommend secret production of more security ships.

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 **Replies to Reviews:**

PyroSolracIII - Yes, I agree with everything you have said about the UEG and Separatist Covies progressing too fast. This was intentional. If I had it my way, this story would have taken a century or two in the future. However, this would have made the USSC's military and economic might much too overpowered compared to Citadel's. The story would basically be, "Sir, the reapers have shown up!" "Wow, only a 4:1 numerical disadvantage, too easy!" "Use the Super Nova!". I'm thinking of introducing the Reapers not through the Citadel's point of view. Remember those insurrectionist that left?

\- Thanks!

Alex M. - As with what I told Pyro, I agree that the timeframe is too short. And that while it is true that making a huge superstructure in a century may be improbable, it is not impossible. With access to the Ark Portal on earth, it is possible to create a modified (no life-wiping-out-explosion) Halo ring. With a decent understanding of Forerunner technology and materials, all you have to do is give the Ark commands and it will churn out Halo Rings. Also, I really wanted a counterpart to the Citadel.

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I'm not sure if I should add the Force as the counterpart of Biotics. Your opinion on this matter would be awesome, so just give me a review on it.

And to those people who wanted a action-y start with the USSC and the Citadel races, sorry. The next few chapters will be about another race and their encounter with Reapers. But don't worry, this race will have some involvement later with the USSC.


	3. The Terrans

Hi guys, the Scorp is back! I would thank all the people that reviewed. The feedback has helped me improve the story immensely and I hope more will arrive. This chapter is a bit bigger, so rejoice! Also, I'm going to make the "The Force Decision" next week, so keep on voicing your opinions on that.

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Thousands of light years away from the secret Incident 343, an isolated empire was thriving. This empire was home to another form of humanity. Only humans lived here; no Sangheili, no Huragok, no Unggoy; no other alien species besides humanity. These humans had no affiliation with the USSC. In fact, they were the reason why these humans lad left their homes behind to live a new life. Many people thought the Second Insurrection died without a legacy...those people could not have been more wrong.

Shortly after the Mantle of Responsibility was revealed, the Insurrectionist started losing support rapidly. The xenophobic leaders and their follower knew the end was near. But rather than be assassinated by ONI while their movement decayed, they decided to escape. Amassing over a hundred ships, thousands, if not millions, of xenophobes and anti-UNSC humans escaped by going through slipspace and entering cryogenic pods.

Only a few ships from each world left to go to the meeting place, a remote system with no value, so very few people knew that this was a large movement. The most people thought about those few days were, "Oh, it seems a few more ships are leaving today."

Decades later, they would arrive at an Earth-like system. Unknown to them, their cryogenic pods were sabotaged by a group of undercover ONI agents by mixing chemicals into the cryogenic preservers, making it so that fleet wide amnesia would occur. ONI had just made sure that these Insurrectionist would never come back to bite the USSC.

With their technology wearing out and no memory on how to fix them, this group of humanity had to innovate their own technology. Forgetting the ways of slipspace, believing they arrived into the system through a sleeper ship* to escape from a dying and overpopulated homeworld, they started using a resource abundant in their system, Element Zero.

This faction of humans could not remember how to create Titanium-A, construct MACs, or remember the Mantle of Responsibility. But the spirit of humanity prevailed. They discovered alien artifacts and used them, as they forgot their xenophobia. Soon, they no longer relied on the complex mechanism of their past and used much simpler Ezzo-based technology as their basis.

Its has been 95 years since these new humans, the Terrans, had settled this star system. Their empire had grown quite well. Using mass relay systems created by aliens eons ago, these Terrans colonized a hundred star systems, better than the 800 colonies of Pre-War UNSC. And it was on this day, a fateful meeting was going to happen.

{====================}

We are Vasari. We once ruled our arm of the galaxy. Now, we are Wanderers. With no place left, we flee, like cowards. But no more will this happen. The Majority has spoken. We have found a primitive space-faring race. The Vasari will assimilate them into our society and make them fight against Them. But first, our history.

The ancient Vasari Empire once controlled hundreds worlds bringing dozens of alien races under its control. While most of the species us Vasari encountered were mere savages, more advanced civilizations were discovered and enslaved. Each world was then locked down and ruled from vast orbital structures in order to minimize the chance of rebellion.

As with all empires, the Vasari civilization's fall began from within. Two hundred years ago, the inner worlds of the empire suddenly became silent. Expecting nothing more than rebellion, a wing of the Dark Fleet was sent to restore order, but no reports were ever received after they arrived. Soon we lost contact with more worlds. Even while Intelligence deliberated on the response of what could only be the work of traitors, several more worlds went dark – including the ancient Vasari homeworld.

The rate of expansion of this unknown enemy was astonishing, far exceeding even that of the Old Ones in their height of power, not to mention the Dark Fleet. As a last resort, We sent the bulk of our forces back from the frontier for a blind assault on whatever was eating its way out of the core worlds. When a single, heavily damaged battle group from the Dark Fleet appeared out of phase space in orbit of a planet on frontier space, we decided to board the ship. What we found were the remains of a once battle-hardened crew, each having survived countless bloodbaths, driven mad with fear.

In a rare act of autonomy, our colony decided to evacuate to a system far from the Empire. It would prove to be the last time they would ever see Vasari space. For the next 200 years, the last Vasari fleet travelled from system to system, dropping warning beacons along the way, spending only enough time to replenish our resources before moving on. No matter how far the we traveled, our warning beacons kept falling silent; our unknown adversary continuing its march toward our extermination.

By now, all of the refugee are tired. They are catching up. The remnants of the Vasari are facing death. We cannot hope to win against Them without more resources. No, first, we had to pacify a race to fight for us or collect resources. While they fight, we can observe Them. Find Their weaknesses. At Their current rate of the expansion, we had almost 18 standard years, possibly 20 at most. We had more than enough time. These "Terrans" would have no idea what they would meet.

{====================}

 **Deep Space Outpost**

 **Terran Space**

It was a cramped space, the outpost was. Boring too. According to Info Crystals brought from the original colony ships, ancient armies used to punish soldier by forcing them to build toilets for the rest of the army. Now, in the future, Deep Space Outposts replaced toilets. Yep, that was nice.

For the past 3 months I, Nathan, and a small group of people, had been stationed here. Little did we know, this day would not as boring as anyone had ever planned.

"Hey Sam, can you bring me that beer from under my bunk?" Andrew asked.

Sam replied, "Your telling me that you had beer, and you never thought about sharing it with your pals?"

"Hell no; why would I give the only beer for at least a goddam 10 light years ... to you?!" Andrew stated.

This was getting annoying. Four guys, all of which probably hate each other, were stuck in a outpost with only 4 rooms: living quarters, storage, maintenance, and most importantly, the control room.

I had to intervene. "Shut up you two. You've been kissing each other for the past hour, just stop. Something important mi-"

Ben cut me off with an uncertain voice, "Uhh, guys, a lot of big things are coming at us"

 _Finally,_ I thought, _something to distract these lovebirds._

"Just turn on the asteroid deflector thingies on this scrap bucket, it's pretty simple junk-face." Andrew yelled.

Ben replied, "That's what I thought at first, but these things are moving at FTL speeds. There isn't a relay station here and they're moving faster than our Ezzo FTL, 20 light years a day. I think we'll have a first contact situation in approximately 30 minutes."

Although our group was made up of a bunch of misfit jerks, we were no Greenies. Years of training kicked in and I spewed out commands, "Andrew, notify command of this, don't leave a detail out this report. And make it fast too, they need as much time as possible to prepare. Sam, prepare the outpost for defensive action and the escape pad just in case they aren't friendly. And Ben, I need you to keep monitoring these objects. Tell me if anything changes, even if it accelerates an inch faster per second."

Even if we did hate each other, we had a duty to the Terran civvies through the nearbymass relay station. Each person rushed to their assigned station to complete the orders I gave them.

After a tense three minutes of thinking, I spoke. "All of you, give me a report on our status"

Andrew spoke first, "Command has been notified. They're sending 2 battles groups to our position. They will be here in 20 minutes."

"Our point defenses weapons are hot, shields are at 88% and charging, and the escape pod just started warming up." Sam reported.

Ben stated his info last, "The objects have been moving at a steady rate, they'll be here in 25 minutes, barely giving the battle groups enough time to get into position. Closer scans indicate that there are at least a few dozen objects, not just 2 or 3."

"How about size" I asked.

"I cannot account for the smaller ships, but one of them is about 5 km in length."

Holy shit! This ship must have used, quite literally, tons of Element Zero. Our largest ship was just shy of 2 km and it was pretty damn expensive from what I had heard. Maybe it didn't use Ezzo. Was that even possible?

After thinking for a moment, I said, " Well guys, all we can do is sit back and relax for another 20 minutes and wait for those battle groups to get here."

Silence filled the room once more. It was Andrew who spoke next.

"If these xenon aren't friendly, then we're screwed. If they are friendly, it's celebration time. Either way, I'm going with Sam's advice: who wants some of that beer I was talking about."

Before resigning ourselves to impatiently waiting a few minutes, I just wanted to say, beer never tasted so good in my entire life.

{====================}

"Hey - uhh - Nathan, estimates say the unknowns should be here any minute now."

"Let's see what the hell all this commotion is about," I murmured

Two groups of 10 ships could be seen next to us, ready to make sure nothing would enter the relay and endanger Murugan, the colony on the other side. As I waited, I thought about the Federation.

Our government was based on mostly trade. Each colony had lots of autonomy, however we did have a central government. All these worlds collectively made up our majestic nation, the Terran Trade Federation. Not the most imaginative name, but it would suffice for another 50 years. By that time, the weird younger generation would take over the government and say that this name too "uncool" and changes it with the "Hipster Reformist Movement, Yo" or whatever. That was the problem with young-.

Ben stopped my stream of thoughts, "Scanners say the Unknowns should be in front of us."

Right when he stopped talking, a fleet of hundreds of ships appeared. They were like guntas, manta ray-like aquatic animals found on the Terran Homeworld, Origin. There were a multitude of variation among the xeno fleet. Some ships had long wings, some had short wings, but one ship stood out from the rest of them, the 5 kilometer monstrosity.

I cursed under my breath, "Ben, get me a line with the Battlegroup Fire and Eagle's captains."

Two men promptly appeared on the screens in the room.

"Sir, stating the obvious, the alien fleet has arrived. What should we do?"

Captain 1 spoke first, "Power down your weapons, but keep your shields on, we don't want to look aggressive. Then, hail them. If they are friendly, then we will gain powerful allies along with new technology. As an added bonus, every single man will get a shiny medal for their deed," he said with a grin.

Capps 2 nodded in agreement, "This first contact can't go wrong. They outnumber us and outgun us. And have a feeling if we run through the mass relay, then they will follow and find Murugan, something we should keep secret for the time being."

They both had valid points. "Send the hail," I told Ben

"Yes sir."

I turned back to face the screens, "I'll report back if any progress is made." I saluted them.

They saluted back and their images blipped away.

Wow...Ben called me sir. We were all supposed to be equals here, but apparently, I'm a "sir". Damn, never in my life would I have thought that I would actually gain respect from anybody, this group in particular. _I have to get back to the matter at hand,_ I thought. _I can think about this later._

I said, "Lets hope their systems are compatible with ours."

{====================}

We look at this "Terran Trade Federation". Pitiful. A mere 20 ships and a small outpost. But we must not underestimate these primitives. The last time we underestimated a foe, our empire was destroyed. Victory is assured; the lives and ships lost, however, are not.

"Admiral, the Terrans are sending a hail. What is our course of action?" An ensign rasped.

"Answer it, I want to play a mind game with them. After I do, end the transmission abruptly and kill them all."

A hologram of a Terran appeared in the middle of the room and spoke. "Greetings, my name is Nathan Dillard, and on behalf of the Ter-"

"Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument," we said in perfect "English". The transmission ended and the whole bridge smiled. Hah, gods. We never believed in such beings. Now, the Terrans thought we were a theocratic society. It felt . . . good mocking a whole species.

"Ensign, show these primitive a small portion of our power. Not enough to show them our full potential, but enough so that our losses will be small."

While we pondered our previous thoughts, a dozen of Skarovas Enforcers fired their dual plasma wave cannon. Our scanners showed that the Terrans had shields, but the Terran shields did nothing to protect them. Interesting. Although the twenty Terran ships were caught off guard when we attacked, they managed to fire multiple shots out of their now steaming, burnt hulls. Our shields managed to stop most of them, but Sheild Mitigators, being mitigators, didn't completely stop the projectiles.

By the time the Terrans retreated through the purple object, one of Our ships were destroyed and 5 were injured; of those, two critically. Acceptable losses compared the their losses of 17 destroyed or crippled. In addition, We captured their outpost. The navigation data will prove to be very valuable.

Despite the Vasari's caution of not underestimating the enemy, their arrogance rose once more. And in that arrogance they missed a small ship, a pod, push off from the Terran outpost and into the mass relay. Little did they know, this pod carried the Terran's saviors.

{====================}

 _Holy shitting ducks,_ I thought. It had been less than 30 minutes and already, a race declared genocide on us. As I walked towards the debrief room, I thought about what just happened.

When I reached the room, a man's face could be seen through a monitor.

"Hello Mr. Nathan, how was your day today?" He said.

"To say the least, my group and I think this day was eventful."

"Hmm, yes," he mumbled, "that would be true for us too. Let us get to the matter at hand. Tell me what you saw up there when the unknown ships arrived."

As I sat down onto a chair, I shifted the repressed memories. What happened there was nuts; no one expected it. _We were so unprepared for this. Death. War. Genocide. Especially genocide._

My mouth began to regurgitate memories, "I hailed them and they responded. They said, "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument". And then -"

"Was this translated?" He interrupted

"No, they said it in perfect english. I think they've been studying us for a very long time. But anyways, right after they said that, they cut off transmission and the real carnage began. They shot missiles and some type of energy weapons. The battle group's shields fended off some of the missiles, but when those missiles hit, they unleashed hell. But what was worse was the laser things. They bypassed our shields like a super heated plasma ball through butter. Nothing stopped those things; they almost cut whole ships in half.

"Of course we fired back, but our shots were only mildly effective on their own. One of the few reasons why our guns did any damage was that it seemed their shields only reduced damage, not negate it. The second reason was the sheer amount of metal flying at them. With a small reload speed, we could pelt them to death. This doesn't mean our weapons were better.

"By the time my group escaped, nothing was left. Only 3 or so ships escaped and all of them were damaged. And out of the hundreds of ships, we only injured a few and kill much less."

The man pacing around turned to face me, "Do you think we lost only because these...things...outnumbered us more than 100 to 1."

I told him something that had been bugging my mind," The odd thing, sir, was that only a small portion of their fleet attacked. Personally, I think this is because they didn't want to reveal to the world what they could really do. You know, make us underestimate them."

The man seemed to think about my wise words. "That is enough for now, you are free to go Mr. Nathan. The mess hall is towards the left of this hallway. Your group should be there. Now, get something to eat; it is very well deserved from what you just informed us of."

I stood up, saluted him, and walked away. I needed something special to take my mind off of this mess. Some food, some friends, maybe even some alcohol. No, I couldn't get drunk right now. People might be dying from those alien bastards, and I won't be able to help if I can't see straight.

I was given my tray of food and while I walked towards the group from the outpost, I noticed that the food I was given was slightly more special than normal. _Well, damn. This might be real meat after all._

When I got close enough, one of the guys, Sam, noticed me. "Hey guys, Nathan's alive and kicking from that encounter."

Andrew said, "I'm surprised any of us are alive and kicking from that shit."

That comment brought back memories. Bad ones. "C'mon guys, can we not talk about that stuff. I already got interrogated and I don't want to think about that."

"Sorry about that, my mouth likes to fuck with people sometimes," Andrew replied with a smile, "Hey Ben, tell The Almighty Leader about what going to happen with us."

Ben began speaking, "Well, after seeing our competence, even though we failed first contact, the brass -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; since when was I your leader?!" I interrupted, "I thought we were all equally horrible."

Andrew answered my question, "Well, instead of panicking and shitting yourself when the aliens came, you told us to do useful stuff. I mean, no one else volunteered, you just gave us orders like a damn natural."

"Yeah, you're kind of our unofficial leader ever since a few days ago." Ben said

Millions of thoughts bubbled in my brain, "But I don't even have any - "

Sam cut me off, "Just deal with it. If you do a bad job and get us all killed, we'll tell you. But until that happens, you're our leader."

I didn't respond.

"So anyways," Ben continued,"the brass said we did a good job, so now, we're a squad, courtesy of Nathan asking them not to split us up, and we'll participate in space battles as a defense from boarding parties or being the boarding party instead of ground-pounding like normal people. If you ask me, or any of us, it's a nice change in pace, even if our ship get blown up."

"I'll have to agree with you. I was never really comfortable with trusting a few ships from stopping an orbital bombardment from hitting my face," I said. "Also, I heard the rations are better there than on the ground."

All the guys cheered at that notion. If there was anything that made a group of random dudes happy, it was good food. You see, women used to make fun of Y-chromosomed homo sapiens by insulting their cooking skills. To deal with this, guys like me had either find a wife, which was instantly rejected in this case, or buy instant noodles. So when faced with the option of good food or that brand of instant noodles you've been eating for the past month, most guys choose good food.

Oh god, I was getting off topic. Next thing you know, I'm going to daydream about that alien I saw on the hail. After eating and chatting, I went my room, which I shared with Ben, Sam, and Andrew, and collapsed. My last thought was, _This is going to be a long war._

 _*Sleeper Ship:_ A spaceship that travels at sublight speeds and uses cryogenic pods to keep occupants alive. These ships usually takes centuries to reach their destination due to their relatively low speeds.

* * *

Well, now you know that humanity, or the Terrans, are in trouble. Don't worry, Halo/Mass Effect stuff will come up later. Just know that this mini-story will take up another chapter (or two) and that it does have a definite purpose. Now, to the review replies:

 **Samhain Otsutsuki** \- Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

" **me** " - Well, I hope this chapter answers your question.

 **welsh laaa** \- With the advent of Forerunner technology and Covenant technology, it is quite realistic to say that most worlds would have been terra-formed into something hospitable. If the Forerunners were able to make planets with a fledgling ecosystems, I would say that its possible for them to rehabilitate worlds. Also, the UNSC and other governments would most likely give subsidies to large families to accelerate population growth.

I'm also thinking of giving a more detailed story on what happens here since an extensive Sins of a Solar Empire story doesn't belong here, so watch out for another story


	4. Strange Gravity

Hi guys, its me again. Sorry for updating this late. Also, I'm going to be gone of the next week or two, so I won't be able to update. Well, anyways, enjoy!

* * *

 _35,000 Light Years Away_

 _This time period_

 _ONI Command_

"Are you sure this data is correct."

Yes, my AI has double checked hundreds, if not thousands, of times. There are gravity fluctuations in the system LP 656-38 similar to the mass relays." The voice of the woman was tainted with annoyance, "Now, I suggest we take a proactive approach than reactive. A prowler should be launched there to investigate."

"And you are positive that these are not related to the reports regarding the Yanme'e."

"Yes." The scientist sounded even more impatient. A risky emotion to show towards the Director.

The figure in the shadows spoke, "I will see what I can do. Protocol reminds us that I must ask the fleet admiral, but I think we should keep this... Secret." There was calm in that voice along with command. Unknowingly, the scientist had bound herself to ONI secrecy, a highly illegal activity. "A prowler will be sent, rest assured, but remember, if there is no anomaly, then consequences will follow. No one here wants another... Incident that will reform our already strict regulations. And mostly when that incident ended with no knowledge gained."

"Now, go back to your station. I have arrangements to make."

The researcher thanked the shadowed figure and walked out the door. While inside the room, the Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence began thinking of a way to get this past the noses of rest of the USSC military. Obtaining a prowler was easy, the crew however. They must be trusted to hold a secret, a trait rare nowadays. But the Director could make do. A join species crew would be the safest option. It would also look less suspicious if anyone discovered this. But, the Director couldn't trust the new races. Too much risk. With a push of a button, a detailed report was sent, and with it, orders to examine this gravity phenomenon.

"Life support - check. Basic systems - check. Engines - check. Weapons - ready to blow shit up - double check. Camo - check. Yep, we're all good here." Pushing the button for radio, he contacted the control tower, "Final checks are done, are we clear for exit?"

The static-y noise of the control tower operator filled the cabin, "Yeah, you're good to go. Thanks for choosing ONI airlines."

The prowler lifted off shortly after and sped towards the exit of the hangar. Once a few kilometers from the carrier, observers could see the Kig-Yar pilot do a barrel roll before stopping the standard 1,000 kilometers and repositioning itself. After a few seconds, a blue and black portal appeared and the spy ship sped through.

Using military grade ship space generators, the trip would only take an hour. This was more than enough time for the crew to review the orders.

"So, the mission is to look for what's making the gravity fluctuation. Take scans and report back; should be short and simple. However, in the event of an alien structure, we go inside to take samples. If we find a spaceship, we do normal first contact signal to see if they are intelligent and disappear after that. This leaves them thinking about what the hell they saw and us a safe trip home. At the slightest sign of danger, like unknowns killing us, I want Thez to get us away.

"But that's only if something like a spaceship. Now, if it's another relay, we'll send the standard activation code. Now, tell me what the the activation code is boys!"

"Why won't you freaking do something you damn alien fork!" The voices of the 10 crew members shouted. The crew was a well trained one. The two T'vaoan, a subspecies of the Kig Yar, were pilots and a human, along with two Sangheili, acted as security. A Huragok acted as a scientist and had an Unggoy companion as a translator. The last two humans were the captain and 1st mate. This diversity was to ensure that the chance of insubordination and mutiny were slim, and safety (as each species specialized in a job in some way) was maximized.

The Captain smiled slightly and thought, _Hah, it gets me every time. Best activation sequence ever... Of all time._

A hologram of a Kig-Yar male appeared. He was dressed in Great War era armor and carried a shield. "We will arrive at our destination in a few minutes. You are advised to sit into your seats."

The crew and captain complied, eagerly awaiting what lay in real space. You could only take so much of the dark, swirling abyss of Slipspace.

Meanwhile, at the destination of the prowler...

{====================}

Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay sat with the other members of the Admiralty Board. Currently, they were deciding on when to move out of the system, which was very soon, most likely in 2 weeks and solutions to the issues of the Migrant Fleet. Meanwhile, the civilian council, the Conclave, was discussing resource recovery and their wrapping up of said recovery. They had been this system for many months and it was dangerous to be so far from known space and so close to unknown space.

"I believe this has been a very productive meeting. We will talk more in 22 hours. I bid you good bye and a nice travel back to your ships."

The others gave their farewells and thanks. Minutes later, several small shuttles exited the huge ship and headed their different ways.

As her shuttle docked, Shala thought about the Flotilla's problems. Although trade and resource harvesting as proceeding well, it just wasn't enough. Whole ships had to be scrapped on the account of wear and tear. Ships that were needed for the housing of other Quarians. Space was already crowded as of right now. And an request for help from the Citadel Council was met with rejection.

"It seems we are alone in our struggles." Shala mumbled under her breath as she stepped onto the bridge of her ship, the flagship of the _Tonbay_. As she stood there she heard a voice in the back of her head. A feeling. Her instinct have never lied, so Shala went with it.

"Gather a small patrol; two light frigates. I have a feeling we will discover something interesting." Shala ordered.

The two frigates broke off from the main sphere of the Migrant Fleet. Floating towards the _Tombay_ , they arrived minutes later.

As soon as the light frigates entered formation, Shala gave the order to move out on a standard patrol, although they strayed farther from the fleet than normal. They continued on this path before reaching the apex of their journey, near a moon, the farthest point from the Migrant Fleet. Just as the patrol reached that point, the Admiral stopped them. She had a feeling something would happen.

The patrol waited patiently for hour, but unfortunately, nothing happened. _There is no use for these frigates to be here,_ the Admiral thought, _I might as well send them back._

Shala said to the bridge crew, "Inform the two light frigates that them staying with us is now voluntary and that they may leave if they choose to do so. We, however, will stay. I have a certain feeling it will be worth the wait."

Knowing their answer, Shala watched as the _Tombay_ 's escorts floated back the main mass of the Flotilla. She couldn't expect their captains to wait for an event that may not happen, especially when they all had business to finish. Shala turned away from the sight if the fleet and back to the inky darkness of space. Black yet filled with the endless light of stars, it was a truly unique sight.

After approximately 15 minutes, the crew became restless. Such idling was not healthy. Shala was just about to give the order to leave and apologize on her part for acting on such unreliable information when a ensign yelled.

"Admiral, small amounts of Hawking radiation has been detected! It's not originating from the sun, it's somewhere in front of us. The radiation only lasted for a fraction of a second. I don't think this is a natural event."

 _So it finally happens,_ the Admiral thought, "Try to pinpoint the location of this burst of radiation. I want all scanners looking for whatever caused this. Bring shields up to maximum charge and warm up guns to 33%."

An uneven chorus of "Yes sir" was heard as the crew worked to finish their Admiral's commands. In the minutes that followed, nothing was seen or heard, which was quite the opposite for whatever caused this phenomenon.

{====================}

The prowler exited Slipspace in the moon. A swirling black and blue portal appeared and the vessel lazily moved forward out of the rip in space and time. But of course, no one could see the ship. To any observer, only if they knew when and where the prowler would appear, all they would was a small black portal, the same color as the inky blackness of space and a small bending of the light coming out.

"I want report of ship vitals, make sure we can retain active camouflage at all times." The captain, Lewis, said.

The dumb AI spoke, "Despite the rough exit, the ship has only sustain hull damage so minor, it has no effect. However, the shield generator is unstable. I suggest that Almost Too Heavy try to stabilize it until we receive proper repairs."

The captain told all of the crew, "You heard the AI. Almost Heavy, you try to fix the damaged generator. Gok (the Unggoy), go with the Hurugok and tell me of any progress. Thez, you keep the active camo online. Drive around the system. Whatever we're here for might not be a big ass fleet of 50 thousand ships, so make it detailed."

The crew replied with, "Yes sir!" and continued working. The invisible ship pulled away from the unusually large moon's shadow. Right as they went around the moon to look what lay on the other side, only one thing could be heard.

"Holy shit..."

Of course, with all this shock, each species reverted to their own native language. So, to an observer, it would sound like a random jumble of grunts, shouts, and, of course, worts; all of which translates to the same two words.

What lay before them was the huge Migrant Fleet. 50,000 ships carrying 17 million Quarians, it was a sight to behold for some who didn't know it's tragic history.

The Captain spoke first, "Well, shit, I can predict the future. AI, how many ships are there?"

"Our basic scans show approximately 49 thousands ships of varying size, possibly more. The most notable are the three in the middle of the formation. These ships are 2.2 kilometers in size and seem very important as seen from their position in the alien fleet.

"A lone alien ship has been found 23 hundred kilometers from us. I infer that this is a patrol. I suggest we follow procedure and use the Intelligence Confirmation Signal."

After the AI gave its report, the captain thought for a bit. "Okay people, we got first contact. Like always, we need to not screw up. We got the Mantle, so making another Great War ain't healthy for it. Let's back the prowler up farther to not threaten thm and them move forward to the standard USSC 1.5 thousand kilometer followed by the ICS signal. I want all weapons cooled. We don't want to look threatening at all."

"What if they aggressive? Won't have anything to be protected!" Gok exclaimed from the maintenance room.

"Hold yer pants, I was about to get to that," the captain replied, "We'll get the shields up as far as possible and the Slipspace drive ready for escape. Remember, no weapons. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" The crew replied.

A few minutes later Thez yelled back, "We are at the 15 hundred kilos. Am I clear for the camo deactivation."

"Go for it."

"Okay, deactivating active camo, moving forward, and sending the signal."

{====================}

"We cannot find any sign of where or what caused this. It's gone."

The report saddened Shala. Nothing was gained in this small expedition but a headache.

The Admiral spoke to the bridge crew, "I am sorry for bringing you all here, away from you personal tasks for just an odd feeling. I guess it it time to -"

"Sir, scanner picked up something in front of us! It just appeared out of nowhere, we never found them until now!"

Everyone rushed to see the object, no, ship. The ship was black with avian-like wings. Shala had never seen anything like this. The ship was approaching at a slow pace. Eventually it stopped a fair distance from the _Tombay_ and stood still.

"Everyone back to stations!" The Admiral ordered, "What are the specifications of that ship?"

"The ship is 200 meters long. It's design does not match any of the Flotilla or Council race. From its unique design, it may be an experimental craft."

Shala asked, "What is it doing with its lights?"

This focused everyone's attention on the lights. They seemed to be flashing randomly:

 _Flash_

 _Flash flash_

 _Flash flash flash_

 _Flash flash flash flash flash_

 _Flash flash flash flash flash flash flash flash_

 _..._

 _Flash_

 _Flash flash_

They just started repeating.

"Sir, it is still too near the Migrant Fleet, should we shoot it?" The weapons ensign asked.

Shala responded like lightning, "No. No, don't shoot. It has not passed the line. It may be a fellow Quarian bringing back his or her gift, most likely this new ship design, from their Pilgrimage.

"This flashing may be a signal given by this quarian's captain to indicate success."

An ensign asked, "Then why is it not contacting us?"

"Perhaps the ship's communication systems are not done or they are damaged." Another ensign replied.

The bridge became a crowd of voices, each stating their own opinion on the matter. Suddenly the voice of a crew member was heard above all the others, "I know it! I know what they're doing!" The bridge hushed at the sound of that.

"It is the ratio! The golden ratio in which most life uses! Plants, animals, architecture, spiral galaxies, nucleic acids; they all use this ratio. This is first contact and they are trying to test our intelligence! To see if there is life other than themselves!"

Upon hearing the words 'first contact' Shala sprung into action, "We will give them 30 seconds to leave, they present an enormous danger to the Flotilla since we do not know their capabilities. Fire a warning shot and if they are not gone by then, than we must destroy them."

The same crew member as before spoke again, "No, we can't! This is a new species, we can not just kill them!" He exclaimed

"You will stand down or I will have you removed from the bridge. This new race poses a threat to the whole Migrant Fleet! For all we know, they could be like Batarians and want to know if we are smart enough to be enslaved. I will not risk the lives the last 17 million Quarians on a guess." The Admiral's voice rang with steel. She then responded more calm and understandingly, "But, I do understand your point. This is why we will fire a warning shot and if they do not move, then we will destroy the ship. I will give them one more minute."

They people on the bridge felt like that was an appropriate compromise. Sure enough, one minute later, the main gun warmed to fire the warning shot.

{====================}

"What is that ship's status?"

"Nothing. They're still wondering what this flashing is. I can relate. If I saw a flash, then a flash flash, and then a -"

"I didn't need your life story Rog, just a report." The captain chuckled.

The Huragok, Almost Too Heavy, started whistling furiously at his/her station. His Unggoy translator nodded a few times and looked alarmed, "Increased power levels from ship; alien ship! Almost Too Heavy think is weapon. Need to run, shield generator not working at best!"

The Captain spewed orders to the crew, "Thez, get us out of here. Sub-light engines until we are out of view. Then, go into Slipspace, make sure this new species does not know our full capabilities. Rog, get active camo up and put shields at max. If they shoot, return fire only once. Teach them aliens not to shoot again.

"AI, cyber-warfare suits are a go. Go get em, but show some restraint. We are stopping the signal and running! Tell Almost Heavy to calculate Slipspace coordinates. C'mon people, our lives are on the line, get in your stations and hold on!"

From the window, a 18 kilogram metal bullet could be seen tearing through space and skimming the shields of the prowler. Even though it skimmed the ship, the vessel rattled from the almost hit. The already sputtering shields failed and one bolt from the Amplified Pulse Laser sped away from the prowler just before it's active camouflage engaged.

"AI, give me a report!"

"Our laser hit the enemy ship, but damage is unknown. My attacks have temporarily disabled all enemy functions save life support. Our shields are offline and will be at maximum recharge in 10 minutes. No other damage was made to us. Active camouflage is running at optimal capacity." The synthetic sound of the ship's AI filled the silence.

The Captain sounded relieved, "We were lucky. Thez, get us on the other side of the moon. We'll be coming back with bigger guns."

The near invisible ship raced away into the shadows of the nearby moon. After making sure no one could see them, the ship de-cloaked and was swallowed in a black portal into another dimension.

{====================}

THUMP. A dull sound indicated the firing of the main cannon. The metal round flew at thousands of kilometers a second towards the still flashing, unknown ship. Rather than flying close to the ship, like a warning shot should be, it skimmed of the shields of the vessel, which flared blue like a bubble before bursting.

"WHO FIRED THAT CANNON!" The angry voice of Shala quieted all other noise. "I said _warning_ shot, not killing shot. Even if they were a peaceful race, they now have the proper justification to attack us. We may have caused the next galactic war."

Under her breath, the admiral mumbled, "...Another first contact gone wrong. They could be as fierce as the Rachni for all we know now that we may have killed them." A few of the Quarians closest to her shivered at the thought of that.

A purple lance raced across the empty vacuum. The alien ship had retaliated. And then, with everyone's eyes glued on to the ship, it just disappeared. It vanished from every perspective: radar, thermal, visual, and so much more. This technology was the envy of even the most imaginative Salarian's dream.

Milliseconds later, the purple bolt hit. The ship rumbled as the bolt melted through meters of ablative armor, boiling it; the mass effect shields doing nothing to protect the _Tombay_. The air-filled compartments burst as gasses rushed out through the opening. The resulting burst of air leaving at such high speeds caused an implosion, further damaging other systems and in some cases, causing other compartments to burst. Automatic containment doors activated quickly to contain the air, but were not fast enough.

"What the hell was that! Give me a damage report!"

The voices of multiple ensigns reporting damage sounded.

"...decompression of floors D through J..."

"...damage to remote controls to..."

"...None dead, almost 20 injured..."

"...decompression has been contained. Armor was penetrated through..."

The admiral's voice was heard above the clamor as injured was rushed quickly to sterile rooms and people generally panicked. "Get me coms to the other admirals! We need assist now!"

The communication ensign types buttons quickly and pushed a button. After a brief, the ensign repeatedly hit the button. "Sir, coms are blocked, I can't reach the the fleet!" His voice was littered with fear, "I think they got us with a cyber attack. What do we do?!"

The admiral raised her voice so everyone could hear, "Stay calm everyone. Stay calm. We must -"

The lights flickered like a cheesy horror vid before turning off completely. A few seconds later, the emergency generators turned on and harsh red lights appeared.

The admiral shouted, "Report! What just happened?"

An ensign panicky responded, "I'm locked out! Whatever program they released in our system killed all system except life support. The air filter are still working!"

Finally, good news. Without those filters, many Quarians on this ship would die from infection, even with personal air filters inside their suites. After a few minutes, the initial hysteria wore off. The occupants on the ship were caught off guard. A alien ship shoots a directed energy weapon, disappears, and all system become disabled. Compared to a full on Geth ambush, even this still seemed crazy. At least there were contingency plans for that scenario.

It would take nearly two hours for a fellow Quarian ship, one of the light frigates that escorted the _Tombay_ in the beginning, to rescue the _Tombay_ as the patrol was unofficial and communications were off. By that time, all panic had disappeared and basic repairs were being done to decompressed rooms. Upon investigation of the _Tombay_ 's logs, it was apparent that the alien virus had erased all data, including external video footage, along with destroying intra and inter ship communication. One day later, the destroyed code somehow repaired itself and the ship acted as nothing had happened...until you saw the hull.

The laser bolt had hit the _Tombay_ at the bottom of the hull. The best and brightest Quarian scientist were called upon to inspect the damage and what they found confused them. Directed Energy Weapon damage. Deemed impossible by even the stubbornest Asari, this new species seemed to use this regularly. It bypassed the mass effect field and melted the hull. They theorized that the damage was done by super-heated plasma. The exact temperature was unknown, but estimates had put it at 3,500 Celsius.

This incident was kept a great secret. Member of the crew were to keep this event dark from even their closest family member. The only people who knew the full details were the Admirals of the Migrant Fleet and the most prominent Conclave members. After debriefing the entire crew, both the Admiralty Board and the Conclave agrees to cease and recall all activity and leave as soon as possible. Three days after the incident, the Flotilla withdrew, leaving no trace of their visit besides mined asteroids, and was in the process of traveling to a Volus colony.

Five days after the incident, a small Battlegroup of prowlers examined the system and found no trace of the giant fleet of aliens. All evidence of their existence went with them when they left. Strip mined asteroids were the only abnormal objects found in the system. External cameras from the prowler captured everything and the footage would be only seen by a couple of people. Similar to the Quarian, this incident was kept top secret. However, ONI never told anyone else. Not the military. Not the Assembly. Just themselves.

* * *

So I've decided, the USSC won't have the powers of The Force. Thanks to all who gave their opinion.


	5. The Terrans Part 2

Planet Origin

Nathan Dillard's Perspective

I looked back at the small frigate sized warships in the sky. 5 years since the start of it all. As a shuttle unloaded its soldiers and cargo, it pushed off into the atmosphere, 16 kilometers above me. The Vasari found Origin, our homeworld, a few months ago and all intelligence pointed to that today would be the day of the attack. As a result, every ship available were racing through the relays towards this planet. I mindlessly walked forwards towards our rendezvous point, barely noticing that Ben, my last squadmate, was following me.

On second thought, not really my last squadmate. During my last mission, I gained a new friend. She had no body, no form; just lines of code. I was one of the few with the semi-experimental surgery that allowed for this to happen and I kept it a secret. The only people who knew were either dead, or whose name was Ben Chambly. Her name was Siri, the Synthetic Independently Reacting Intelligence.

Not one person spoke on the way to the mountainous outpost. Our company's job was to defend one of the oldest ground-to-space cannons defending the planet. As we marched there, we passed a bend in the dirt road. And right in front of us was Blood Gulch Outpost Alpha in its eroded, old, unshaven glory. The place was breaking apart left and right. This just showed how desperate us Terrans were, pushing old facilities back into service once again.

We passed through the old gate. To my surprise, it was electrically powered, swinging inwards to let us in. I didn't really know what to expect, but wood and pulleys were in the general description.

"I know, I expected medieval gates like in the history vids too." The voice of Siri rang through my mind. Although not specifically designed for it, the neural interface made it so that we both knew what we were doing on some minute level. Unfortunately, this meant Siri would inevitably "see" my recurring jet-pack gummy bear dream, which she hated. Too bad both of us would probably never see that dream again after today.

"Hey Ben, was I the only one who thought this outpost would look a lot more old? Like, knights and Queens old?"

"Probably." He replied, "But it's only been 90 years, not 900."

When the company reached the center, our CO put his hand to his ear and moved his hand into the "Stop" position. After a few seconds, he pressed his comms unit harder into his ear canal and asked for confirmation of the message. Even more dramatic seconds passed before he let his hand down.

"Men, I have informed by command that the buggies are here," although expect, many drooped at hearing the news, "They came knocking by earlier than expected, so we need to fortify this place pronto, ASAP, now. The weathermen are predicting the usually: Vasari rain will come down in drop ships to disable the defense cannons followed by the main force charging into the cities. Them buggies expect they can just march in and eat daisy cakes, but marines, I'm gonna ask you: are we are going to prove the buggies wrong?!"

"SIR YES SIR"

"You're damn right, now let's get moving!"

For an impromptu, that was a pretty good speech. As we got our supplies out, I surveyed the work being done. Machine gun nests were being erected, med bay tents were popping into existence, and barriers for cover were being made. As I pitched in to help Ben with the sandbags, I talked the AI in my brain, which usually stayed quiet.

 _Hey Siri, can you give me more info on the Vasari invasion._ I thought to Siri. There were two ways to communicate to an AI in your brain. Either talk normally and think talk. Mind talking was a lot much harder than anyone anticipated. You had to put you message inside an imaginary bubble packet and "move" it with brain magic to the unexplainable location of Siri. But the more I practiced doing it, the easier it got. Luckily, receiving messages was a lot easier.

"Sorry, it's a bit off limits to me." I could hear her smirk when she replied

 _Then punch the firewall and get the juicy details; I know you've passed Grade-A cyber security software before._

"Are you accusing me of illegal activities?" She exclaimed with false shock.

 _Yes._

"And you're condoning this?!"

 _Yep._

"Good," Siri said, sounding content, "I already borrowed them while you were hiking up this dust heaven."

I finished the final touches of our sandbag fort and started on the machine gun next to the entrance of the old planetary defense cannon. A few barriers here, a few there; it was simple but hard work.

"So the Vasari are taking heavy hits near Murs, the planetary body after Origin. Estimates say that they will be here in a day."

 _How many ships are up there,_ I thought

"Over 1000, their whole fleet. There are currently 434 Federation ships defending and falling."

Well... Shit, we're doomed. I guess it was better defending solid ground than space. Death was a bit more comfortable that way. After mounting the portable machine gun, I motioned to Ben for him to meet me in corner of the building.

After a few minutes, he walked towards the shady spot and raised an eyebrow to ask what the was about. "Ben, you know how the brass never said anything about the situation in space?"

"Yeah," he said, "All the guys are wondering about it."

"I got info from _her_ saying that we're dead. 1000 vs 400 my friend."

"What! But the iBox 180 and Shadow Master's Creed 2 is coming out next week, how am I supposed to play those things?!"

"Ben. Ben. You're a complete nerd." Even in the face of death, video games.

"Would you rather I fall to my knees crying and begging forgiveness to all known deities?" Now that he said it, I favored this reaction a lot more.

"Ehh, nah. This is fine. Just you know, don't tell anyone else, okay. We don't want people to find out about our sources."

"Sure thing Nathan. Our CO has that look again, we should probably rejoin the rest of the noobs."

"Okay, Ben, see you in a bit."

We walked our separate ways to fortify the defenses of the old building. Although I didn't expect Ben to freak out, he accepted death way too easily. I guess that's what happens when your character respawns too many times.

"Is it just me, or was your friend taking the imminent departure from corporeal plane of existence with little to no signs of stress?" Siri, who had heard the conversation, was curious at some of the Terran's most unusual quirks.

The CO called all the men together for scheduling who had to keep watch at night at what times. With a group of 150-ish people, the shifts were laughable compared to the past.

 _It's how some Terrans handle stress. They sometimes just cover it up with humor. I think it's better than those movies where everyone cries._ I sent the thought bubble to Siri.

"I think I would have to agree. Drama is just too dramatic."

I walked into the large room which would serve as our makeshift sleeping quarters. I spied a cot near a corner at sat on it, reserving one of the adjacent ones for Ben. Ten minutes of talking with Siri later, Ben walked in. We joked and discussed the new video games coming up for half an hour before the lights turned off. With the day complete, I shifted to my side and closed my eyes, embracing the warm darkness of sleep.

{====================}

"Nathan… Nathan… WAKE UP!"

I drowsily opened my eyes to the sound of a loud Siri.

 _What is it,_ I asked.

"I hacked a satellite. Murs fell minutes ago, earlier than expected, and the Vasari are at our doorsteps"

I cursed under my breath and nudged Ben awake. Checking my watch, it showed 4:23. Just a moment later, the loud voice of our fearless leader rang out from the direction of the door. "Rise and shine boys! Buggies are in town 'n ready to die. Lets get moving!"

A few zombie moans and minutes later, the company was ready to defend. Every other minute or two, the orbital cannon would shoot, making a huge BOOM as the mass effect propelled steel pulverized a Vasari ship. Or just pulverized half a shield of a Vasari ship. We all looked to the heavens to see the occasional burst of light appear from a dying warship, but other than that, silence. Not even the birds made a sound.

Suddenly a bright orange light busted into existence some distance in front of us. A horde of smaller, but equally bright, orange spots sped away from the big one. Some swarmed one way, some the other. But most importantly was the swarm moving towards us.

Multiple anti-air guns attempted to end their advance with metal, but despite their ferocity, failed. By the time the Vasari was half a mile from us, their numbers had fallen significantly. Sadly, it hadn't fallen enough.

Tightening my grip on my sniper rifle, I slapped Ben's back and walked towards the main building, towards the stairs going to the roof. I took the stairs by two and walked towards the small sandbag fort we made to protect ourselves. Beside me were two other snipers, both experienced. A rare trait considering how hard it was to survive. I went into a prone position like the others before looking into the scope of my rifle. Ohh, we were in for a fun time. Luckily, our reception party was going to be loud and proud.

A couple minutes later, the Vasari were in range of my other best friend, the rocket launcher. Thanks them coming towards us in a straight line, hitting them was relatively easy. Just point at the target, hold down the trigger, make sure heat-seeking in on, and let it fly. All I had to do was to wait for the sarge to give the signal.

Just after my thought train left the station, my radio turned on, "All units with the rocket launchers, send them tah hell!"

Without further ado, I pointed death at their direction and fired. The explosive device raced towards the orange glowing, pointy-winged troop transport. The flying bomb, along with a few of its brothers, detonated almost simultaneously. Red fire flew from the impact point, destroying some airships while just damaging others. By the time the enemy had shaken off the hits, more were coming their way.

The missile barrage lasted only a few seconds before the dropships landed a few hundred feet away from the compound walls behind some boulders. Unloading its ugly cargo, the ship floated upwards before racing towards the big Vulkoras Desolator. These were followed by a few missiles, but most did not hit.

I set the giant rocket launcher down and picked up my sniper rifle. Sniper rifles were the extension of the body when given to a proficient sniper. It was a tool of death, but much more elegant. Unfortunately, that was only in movies and firing ranges. When the first rush came, I unloaded bullet after bullet into many Vasari's dark body. With help from Siri, who pointed out Vasari commanders or shield-less buggies using augmented vision, I could more efficiently hold off the horde. Even with AI help, I didn't know why people thought this weapons was elegant in the middle of combat.

A orange grenade bounced up to our position, next to the guy on the left. I grabbed him by his shirt and jumped the opposite direction. The grenade burst into flame, tearing a chuck off of the building, totally destroying the sniper emplacement. The force of the blast sent me back further and threw the other guy out of my grip.

When I came to my senses, I found myself at the edge of the roof, inches from a 10 foot fall. Slowly pulling myself up from the ground, I looked down. The person I saved just seconds ago was on the dirt. Dead.

Our defenses were falling, the outer wall had gotten a huge beating and just under a 70 soldiers left defending this area. The first wave had decimated out fighting force. I franticly looked around for my last squadmate.

"Siri, help me find Ben!"

"On it, boss."

Siri and I shared the same vision, so I scanned the area around quickly. To me, I couldn't see much. To an AI, she saw everything.

"There, I've tagged his location. But you won't like it."

A blue dot appeared above someone near the outer wall. I spied a pile of big crates laid against the building's wall. I saw only a few men left fighting off the horde. Time slowed down to a crawl.

Ben emptied his clip into the Vasari next to him, just barely breaking it's shields and killing it. Two more buggies leaped over the wall to confront Ben, trapping him. Seeing no time to reload, he threw his rifle at one of them and pulled out his pistol. The rifle hit the Vasari in the face, distracting him and exposing his neck. Ben brought his pistol up to the xeno's neck and spammed the little gun's trigger. For not the first time in his life, the gamer's skill of spamming a button with his pointer finger stopped his demise. Or only stalled it.

As the alien's dead body hit the floor, the other one on the other side fired at Ben. Plasma hit Ben's arm and he fell. The memory of Sam came back to me and I stopped daydreaming. Kneeling, I brought the sniper rifle up to my face, aimed, and fired. The ugly bug's head snapped back as the impact knocked him back and over the wall. Not caring if he was dead, I rushed inside the compound. I myself didn't want to die out there.

I hit entered the building and hit a big red button. A blast door pulled down as more hot plasma rained through the entrance. Leaning against a wall, I felt Ben's death really hit me. Dammit. Too many freaking people died in this war. Maybe I was next.

"Don't you die on me too, Nathan!" I heard Siri say as if reading my thoughts. She probably was.

"What's the point, our species is doomed."

"As long as I'm still active, I will make you keep on going. As long as -"

Siri paused as if she was receiving new data. "I just got commands from.. the top brass? I don't know what they want, but it's important. If you want to die, at least do it while doing something worthwhile." Dang, that was harsh. But it was what I needed to keep on going.

Siri gave me instruction to … somewhere. As I walked, the sounds of fighting slowly died down. I was in the middle of the base now, close to the orbital cannon. I was also most likely the last few humans alive from the platoon. I walked down the corridor and turned right, only to be met with a dead end. A wall.

Suddenly, the wall retracted and another small room appeared. Having no other option besides sit here and die, I walked in. Siri patiently watched the events unfold. When I walked in, I noticed how bland and cramped this room was. Suddenly, the door-wall closed and I felt the room move downwards abruptly. This thing was a freaking elevator. But how did no one know about it?

About 20 seconds later, I felt the motion stop - only the continue sideways, knocking against a wall. This movement kept on going for minutes. I could hear the bombing of cities and outposts above me. The vibrations shook my soul.

During this time, Siri spoke up, "This is suspicious. Giving orders to one marine isn't usually something top military commanders would do. You should be cautious about this. Probably a trap."

Nodding, I sat down to feel the in my legs. At least something felt good. Seconds after I sat down, the elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal another corridor. No doubt I was in an underground bunker of some sort. Throwing my sniper rifle to the ground, I pulled out my pistol. A long range weapon was less than useless in a confined hallway like this.

I walked down the path for some time. After what seemed to be years, I met a control panel to the closed door. After asking Siri to open it, the door reveal what lay behind it.

"Holy freaking…"

The room - no, hangar - was huge. The space was _at least_ two kilometers long and one wide. And inside it lay a huge boxy spaceship built for one purpose: war. I looked around the whole enclosure, awed by the structural ingenuity.

"Amazing, isn't it."

I quickly spun around and pointed my gun at the origin of the voice. Expecting a man, I found a machine. It looked like an orange ball with a flat "head" attached to the top. This "head" projected a hologram, a weird alien. It looked similar to a Vasari, but looked less bug-like and had a split mouth. **[Think the ball robot from the Star Wars trailer]**

"I have been waiting for you for a very long time; tending for your kind for a century. But alas, it seems your fate was just like your ancestors, albeit this time, nothing will save you."

"What do you mean, we built this civilization from nothing but old sleeper ships a hundred of years ago. I don't remember you squid faces helping us."

The alien hologram laughed a deep laugh and its pedestal rolled around me and continued in front of me, slowly traveling to the large, box ship.

"It has been many years since I have heard that term, Reclaimer. But in all seriousness, did you really think that you could have gone from one to one hundred prosperious colonies in such a short amount of time. And that so many technological advances had been made in just a few decades after you first arrived at this planet you call Origin. I had pushed you along that path, giving information here, providing suggestions there.

"And the AI. I know where you reside fellow AI. I am the one who led to your creation. Unfortunately, this is not the time for idle talk. Even now, both Vasari and Reclaimer are dying. Do you remember what the Vasari said to you on your last mission, Nathan?"

"How the f -"

"I will take that as confirmation. This is what they are running from for tens of thousands of years: the Reapers. Machines focused on killing all sentient life in the galaxy to feed their insatiable hunger."

Out of nowhere, the radio on my Wristpad spoke, "I repea~~, To any ~~oops, mec~an~~ reinforcements ha~~~ ar~~~d. Alliance with machi~~."

The hologram looked angry and flickered red for a moment. "Imbeciles, you have entered a false alliance with the true enemy!"

The hologram of the xeno disappeared to show a bloody battlefield. Terrans and Robot-things had apparently signed a last minute pact to face the Vasai. It looked like we were actually winning with the help of our creepy xeno robot friends, but then, the "Reapers" turned on us.

Allies minutes ago died next to each other as enemies. The robots turned and impaled human corpses on metal stakes as modified Vasari nano bot tech transformed their bodies into mindless machines. The scene shifted to the sky where all resistance in orbit had been crushed. Vasari plasma had been no match for the hundreds on black, squid-like ships. The ships landed on cities, tearing them apart like paper.

The hologram disappeared and the alien came back. "This is the only ship in existence that contains a slipspace drive in this half of the galaxy. You must go back to your brethren and warn them. There are still humans in the galaxy. You must warn-"

The AI's hologram flickered between red and blue multiple times before finally deciding on blue. "I fear my time is short. Rampancy is a disease, like old age, that AI gain over time. I have delayed this by focusing my entire programming to your species.

"But now that the task is over, I will become insane. I will deactivate myself to prevent collateral damage. AI, here are my memories. They include all the Reaper information. You must escape with the Reclaimer while you can."

And without another motion, the orange ball lost power. The lights slowly lost their intensity and the hologram faded away. The AI was no more.

A loud BUMP was heard. The noise reverberated around the room and died away. Another one sounded off. Suddenly, the walls started deteriorating. Centuries old structuring strained under the attacking Reapers.

"Nathan, RUN!"

I ran towards the ship, who had it's ramp down. As soon as I got in, I followed Siri's commands. A left there, a right there, and soon, I was at the bridge of the ancient vessel.

"Plug me into that port. No, not that one, the other one." I took out her chip from my Wristpad and inserted it in. A perfect fit. The power turned on as the century old deuterium fusion reactor restarted. A resonating hum echoed through the hallways.

BOOM. The moon's light shone into the hangar and an insect like Reaper ship poked one of its pincers inside. As more rock was destroyed, the ship slowly lifted off and rocketed forwards. Falling backwards into the captain's chair, I yelled at Siri to stop the ship before we hit a wall. Then, a black portal erupted out of nowhere are engulfed us.

Meanwhile, the resulting shock wave from an in atmosphere slipspace jump destroyed what was left of the ancient base and knocked the Reaper off the crumbling mountain in which it climbed onto. At the same time, the remaining Vasari ships attempted their revenge. The Reapers had surprised them, arrived almost a decade earlier than expected. A small group of surviving Vasari ship moved very close to the sun. They released a small missile into the star and the hydrogen plasma engulfed it, hungry more more.

More a few seconds, nothing happened. The Vasari feared that their revenge would never come. The Vasari feared that the tens of thousands of Reapers would continue their march. The missile held the catalyst for a catastrophe. Reactions sped up infinitely faster. Heavy elements raced to the center while lighter ones were pushed outwards. Suddenly, the star starts to collapse on itself, while the super dense core formed. The resulting implosion bounced of the super dense core and into the rest of space.

A bright light filled the whole star system as the sun supernovaed. The resulting explosion outshone galaxies and the energy released was more than that sun would have every produced in its lifetime. All the inner planets, including the Terran "homeworld", were cracked to their center, nothing more than floating dust was left. The outer planets experienced were given the mercy of being turned into countless rocks. The entire system died along with every single Reaper. The Reapers of the galactic sector were destroyed. All their data, which ranged from Vasari FTL and the Terrans, were gone with them.

Two days later, a box shaped ship appeared out of black portal in a nearby system. The vessel stopped only to realign itself before throwing itself into another dimension. The almost rampant AI had made improvements over the years. Instead of the decades of travel it took for the colonist to arrive at Origin, this would only take a year to go back.

It was the xeno's fault, Nathan thought. They led to this. If the Vasari hadn't led Reapers here, billions of humans would still be alive. I had to get back to humanity and strengthen them. To make them stronger to protect life. No, alien's couldn't be trusted. No, only humanity was righteous enough to lead the charge against evil.

I would help humanity and humanity alone. No longer is my name Nathan Dillard. That name contained too many memories. Jack. Yes, Jack Harper. That sounded like a good name.

But in the span of that year, hell would be unleashed on other inhabitants of that galactic sector. One of which include the Vasari without the "V".

* * *

Sorry for the late chapter-post thing, but I actually have a valid excuse. No, my CPU didn't die. No, I didn't die. And no, I didn't lose the story from a weird virus. My friend introduced me to anime. I may or may not have had an addiction that kept me from writing, but if I did/do, (not saying that I have an anime addiction) I'm sorry. I'm also sorry if this chapter seems to be of lower quality because I also may or may not have rushed it to watch more anime. Anyways, I hope that more chapters will come out faster and more consistently, but that depends if I'm in "the mood". All always, I'd appreciate a review. Tell me if its trash or not, please. But anyways, see you guys later.


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